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Camera takes single and double-perf 16mm-film. There are three different film magazines or cassettes: 30m/100ft, 60m/200ft and 120m/400ft. The 30m/100ft and 60m/200ft magazines can take daylight spools, while the 120m/400ft has to be loaded in complete darkness. As the film is threaded entirely within the magazine, several magazines can be inserted into the camera body during filming, with minimal interruption. The most common magazines currently available are 30m/100ft. Cassettes that are suitable for reverse function are labelled "R". and may come with an electrical attachment on the cassette. Cassettes for use with the 96Fps motor are labelled "96" and contain the instruction "use coated film" (presumably meaning a film stock with a smooth coating) For all 24Fps filming purposes, any cassette can be used.

"The Pentacon AK16 is a 16 mm film camera with exchangeable cassettes and various drives. As a special feature, it has an adjustable shutter. The nosepiece picks up three lenses and has a synchro-aperture adjustment, meaning all the lenses mounted retain the same setting so the user does not have to re-set for each lens choice. For the time, this camera was extremely advanced. It was developed in the 1950s by the VEB Pentacon Camera and Cinema Works (VEB Zeiss-Ikon) (sold in 1953) and was used extensively by many studios in the East until the late 1980s. ... What is the difference between a Pentacon AK16 and a Pentaflex 16? The AK16 was first and is black. At the end of production time, savings had to be made due to the socialist planned economy, which affected some of the features of the camera. They were called Pentaflex 16 and gave it a new look. But it was not changed that much. Obviously, the silver leather and the cheap gray hammered finish - the good black Kräusellack was more expensive then." (Text translated from: https://www.vesab.de/wpvesab/fotografie/pentacon-filmkamera-ak16-2-2877/ )

There are several versions of this camera: some with plastic parts for the body, some with fully metallic bodies. And "of course" the body's colour can be anything from silver metallic, to green, grey, brown or black.

Director JEFF L’HEUREUX completed in 2012 a feature film called "Shadow of the Lotus" that was shot using two Pentaflex 16mm cameras. FujiFilm was used as the director desired a recreate a "gritty, grainy look of older 35mm film stock is faithfully recreated on 16mm film, complete with the signature scratches and natural imperfections of film stocks at the time".